The Pokemon Chronicles
by Latias In Space
Summary: It is several years into the future, and an evil organization is wiping out everyone and everything. Can one man rescue a doomed world from its fate? Entirely rewritten to tone the story down a bit - Chapter 6 up! Please Read & Review!
1. Conflagration: Prologue, Part 1

The Pokemon Chronicles  
  
Fanfiction by Sung-Min Kwon. © 2003  
  
Disclaimer: Pokemon and its associated characters are copyrighted by Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures Inc, and 4Kids Productions.  
  
***********************  
  
-Conflagration-  
  
He abruptly woke up to a loud, shattering noise, followed by a heavy thump on the floor. It sounded similar to that of breaking glass.  
  
He sat up in his bed and looked around, but couldn't see anyone at all.  
  
It was still pitch-black; it was still the middle of the night.  
  
Just when it occurred to him that someone had broken into his room, he suddenly felt something sharp sink into his left side. He gasped.  
  
Pain.  
  
He yelled loudly. He rolled off the bed immediately and crawled under it silently, trying to momentarily forget the pain. After he was under the bed, he held his heavy breathing as best as he could, and listened.  
  
He could hear breathing on the bed. It was breathing even louder than his. Someone had indeed broken into his room, and that someone had driven a weapon into his side.  
  
And the weapon had actually pierced his body, because as he ran his hands over his belly, he felt a sharp point slightly protruding through the skin.  
  
But that was better; if the dagger had gone in straight into the body, it would certainly have struck something vital.  
  
As he pulled out the sharp device in his side, he suddenly felt blood drain from the deep wound.  
  
He guessed that the dagger had not just gone through the skin, but also stabbed through the muscle, seeing just how much it hurt.  
  
He plugged the wound in his side with his left hand, and probed his right hand over the weapon that had been in his side just a few moments ago.  
  
After some examination, he found it to be a medium-length dagger. It had a short but sharp blade that could probably cut through bone. A dagger made in the style of the weapons preferred by master assassins.  
  
He guessed that his attacker was someone who didn't have as much experience with the weapon, seeing that he was stabbed instead of slashed. He was still alive and fine, except for the deep wound in his side. He thought he would faint from the pain, which was growing stronger by the minute.  
  
But the intense pain in his side was suddenly forgotten because of the sound of his assassin searching the floor right next to the bed to finish off the victim. This scraping sound, although not loud, made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.  
  
The assassin sounded hurried, even desperate, to find and eliminate his or her target.  
  
Although, the assassin was literally stumbling in the dark as of now, he realized that it would be a matter of seconds before he was discovered.  
  
Without any thinking, he sprang out from under the bed with the point of the dagger held firmly in front of him. He felt the weapon prod something soft, and he sank the dagger into the body with all his might.  
  
Just then, he felt something sharp slash his cheek, and knew that he had received another wound, although not nearly as serious as the one in his side. He drew the dagger out of the assassin's body like a reflex.  
  
To buy some time, he kicked the assassin with his right foot, mustering all of the strength that he could summon from his weakened body. He felt something, and knew instantly that he had connected with the head.  
  
He caught his breath, and then leaped on the assassin, who had crumpled down on the floor when kicked straight in the face.  
  
After taking the assassin by the arms and pinning the assassin against the wall, he repeatedly slashed the dagger at his assassin like a madman. He did this for what seemed like forever.  
  
Ignoring the high-pitched screams of the assassin, he slashed through the soft skin many times.  
  
He slashed faster and faster in frenzied vengeance, until he got too tired.  
  
He then collapsed in a heap.  
  
***********************  
  
When he regained his senses, he was lying down on the floor covered with blood and with a dagger in his hand. The blood was from the assassin as well as himself.  
  
He was also breathing very heavily, and could feel the pain growing in his side. The wound was bleeding again, although not as heavily as before. He took his blood-soaked sheet and tied it around his waist to stop the flow of blood.  
  
When he looked out the window, he could see orange light that looked like sunrise had just begun. He was relieved to see the light of day.  
  
He saw the assassin lying some distance away from him, but couldn't make out any of the features. The only thing he made out was that a woman had tried to kill him.  
  
But then he stopped in his train of thought. It was too warm to be sunrise: it felt hotter than a summer afternoon. When he actually stuck his head out the window, he saw that his hometown was ablaze with red, evil-looking fire that danced in the middle of the pitch-black night.  
  
What was more, he saw the fire spreading rapidly to the edges of Pallet Town, including where his own house was.  
  
All pain forgotten, he stuffed the dagger in his belt made from his bedsheet. He darted down the stairs and burst out the door like a rocket leaving from a launching pad.  
  
He knew that he would have to be on the other side of the river that almost entirely enveloped Pallet Town if he was to be safe.  
  
The bridge in front of his house was already on fire, and he panicked.  
  
He looked around, and saw that the conflagration was literally rushing toward him. Buildings in the distance were being destroyed, and burning logs were falling everywhere.  
  
Just when he thought he saw no way of escape, he saw a small alley that was still slow in catching fire. Moreover, there were stone buildings on that alley, so he would be relatively safe, as long as there weren't any falling stones.  
  
Knowing that was his only option and that the fire was rushing toward him even as he thought, he took action at once. He zigzagged to avoid burning houses and darted into the alley, turning corners at a wider street that lead to the other bridge. He ran through the burning street, hoping that the other bridge was not ablaze.  
  
Just as he turned another corner, a burning piece of wood fell inches away from his feet. Out of fear, he ran faster and faster, until he got to the bridge.  
  
To his dismay, he saw that the other bridge was on fire. He was now trapped on the small peninsula on which Pallet was built. The strip of land connecting Pallet to the mainland was all forest, which would definitely be on fire.  
  
He now knew that he only had one choice, something that he would never to under normal circumstances. He would have to swim across the cold river that flowed by Pallet Town, and fight the extremely strong current in the middle of the river.  
  
But he had no time to think. The fire was advancing towards him, picking up speed. He held his breath, and jumped off a nearby dock seconds before the fire overtook it.  
  
Not looking back at his burning hometown, he began to swim across the river. The water was frigid, and it was flowing rapidly. When cold water was absorbed by the bedsheet covering the wound, his side hurt as if it was being stabbed by icicles. However, he bit his lip and kept on swimming.  
  
In the very middle of the river, he was carried downstream by the current like a rocket. Knowing that there was a waterfall further down the river, he grabbed on to the nearest rock, breaking a fingernail in the process.  
  
When the current let down a little, he let go of the rock to try to swim to the other side. Bad mistake.  
  
The current was stronger than it looked, and his body was exhausted. The current carried him downriver all the same, and he saw the waterfall approaching.  
  
Aided by a sudden burst of energy, he swam with all his strength to get out of the current. He even tried swimming upriver for a while when he got close to the cataract.  
  
He finally got out of the current and reached the other side of the river less than a hundred feet away from the waterfall.  
  
The other side was made up of many steep cliffs. He worked his hands raw climbing up the jagged rocks, but his mind was only focused on getting up safely and not letting go of the rocks.  
  
If he let go of the rocks, he would probably be dashed to bits on the bottom side of the cliff. Even if he was lucky enough to land back in the river, he would inevitably travel down the waterfall.  
  
Trying not to think of how many ways he could be killed on the way down a waterfall, he scurried up the cliff like an ant at work. When his hands finally felt grass at the top of the cliff, he made a note to himself that grass had never felt so better before.  
  
After he scaled the cliff and dragged his body over the edge, he immediately dropped off to sleep out of extreme exhaustion.  
  
***********************  
  
He heard strange voices in his dream. As the voices faded out, he spotted a pair of red eyes.  
  
***********************  
  
Hours later, he didn't want to get up. But something didn't feel right. When he opened his eyes, he saw that one of his legs were hanging over the edge of the cliff.  
  
He rolled like lightning away from the edge, thinking that he would not survive the trip down the cliff.  
  
After relaxing a bit from the shock, he tried to think where he was, and why he had woken up on the edge of a fifty-foot high cliff. Then it all came back to him.  
  
He was sure that it would be late into the morning, and the sun would be shining brightly. But there was no sun. The sky was dark and filled with black clouds, and it was still very cold, as cold as the water in the river. He could only tell that it was 10:30 in the morning because of his wristwatch. Thank god that the watch was waterproof.  
  
What did that dream mean? Whose voices did he hear? And why did he see a pair of eyes? Those eyes made him feel uncomfortable.  
  
After redoing his bedsheet belt to cover his wound properly, he walked alongside the river so he could see the hill behind which Pallet Town stood. He didn't see the dock that he jumped off last night, though. He made up his mind to go back to Pallet Town.  
  
Before jumping, he went up the river some more so he would reach the other side before getting to the waterfall. After he thought that he had gone enough, he jumped off the cliff and swam across the river to go back to his home.  
  
To his surprise, the current was nowhere as strong as it was last night. Maybe he was just extra-tired after yesterday's struggle.  
  
After reaching the hilly bank, he went around the small hill. What he saw made him crumple to his knees. He saw a field of gray ash where Pallet Town used to stand.  
  
Everything was burned down to the ground. Everything.  
  
He saw no more of his house; no more of Professor Oak's laboratory; no more of the candy stand that he used to go to so often as a child; no more of the flower garden that used to lie in the middle of the town square.  
  
Nothing but a flat, plain of ash. He lost all hope at that moment.  
  
He knew that his mother was dead. Same for Professor Oak. His mother had been visiting the laboratory for the night, to talk to the professor. The lab was in the center of the town; no way could they have escaped the fire seeing just how rapidly it spread last night.  
  
As he thought of his mother, tears welled up inside his eyes. He couldn't believe that he was sitting on and his hands were going through the grains of ash that used to be his hometown.  
  
He just let it all go and cried his heart out, beating the ash-laden ground with his fists and crying himself to sleep.  
  
He didn't even notice when a light drizzle started to fall, washing his mud- stained body.  
  
***********************  
  
This is the first part of a 3-part prologue to the story. just be patient until the prologue is up, then the story goes into the real action. ^^  
  
Please R&R after reading!  
  
-Latias in Space- 


	2. Contemplation: Prologue, Part 2

The Pokemon Chronicles  
  
Fanfiction by Sung-Min Kwon. © 2003  
  
Disclaimer: Pokemon and its associated characters are copyrighted by Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures Inc, and 4Kids Productions.  
  
***********************  
  
-Contemplation-  
  
Ash woke up hours later, still in the middle of the field of ash. He sat up and tried to recollect things that had happened to him in the past.  
  
But he found it impossible to do so, because his mind was still in disarray because of what had happened.  
  
After just thinking about nothing for a few minutes, his head became clearer. Only then, could he meditate and recall previous events.  
  
***********************  
  
He clearly remembered the finals at the Hoenn Cup, which he placed second at the young age of 14. He was matched up against a trainer named Kari in the last battle.  
  
She was from the city of Petalburg, and was touted as the best trainer that came from Hoenn.  
  
She was expected to win the Cup with no problem, and even sail through the Elite Four. When Ash actually saw her, he went "gah-gah" over her, although not out loud, like Brock did from the stands.  
  
But Ash now knew just how Brock felt like when he saw a girl. This girl was one of those rare jewels that seem like they come once in a generation.  
  
Although Ash still felt more comfortable around Misty or May, he felt that this girl was much more attractive.  
  
She emanated an atmosphere of forbidding and unreachability. Her slender five-foot-seven figure almost measured up to Ash's five-foot-nine figure. She wore her long blonde hair in a ponytail like Misty's, only Kari's came down much farther, down past her shoulder blades.  
  
She had a white shirt on that fit tightly to her body, and one that came down almost to her wrist, although not quite. The shirt had a cute picture of a Torchic on it. Her navy-colored jeans also stuck to her legs, and boy, were they slender. Misty could not fit into those clothes even if she went on a diet for a month.  
  
Kari wore blue-and-white sneakers, ones that made her look really playful. And she was; just not in battle.  
  
In battle, she meant business, and did not hold back at all. It was said that she had come in second place in the Hoenn Cup last year, and was ready to win this match and claim the cup for herself.  
  
When Ash first saw her at the finals match, he had a feeling just from looking at her that she was going to be no piece of cake. And these feelings of his were almost always right.  
  
He couldn't remember how the battle went exactly, but he knew almost all of what happened. It almost made him happy to think about it.  
  
***********************  
  
His first two Pokemon, Heracross and Cyndaquil, had gone down fighting a Gardevoir that knew Flamethrower and Shadow Ball.  
  
Heracross fainted after being hit with a Flamethrower and Psychic, while Cyndaquil was hit with 3 Shadow Balls. Gardevoir itself evaded many of the attacks with its Teleport attack.  
  
However, Ash's Swampert had managed to knock it out with a Surf attack that drenched Kari as well. She looked a bit disgruntled for a while, but the determined look was back on her face soon.  
  
She called out her Tropius, a shining Pokemon. Swampert used Earthquake, only to find out that Tropius was not affected. Tropius countered with a Solarbeam, which knocked out Swampert pretty easily.  
  
Half of Ash's Pokemon were down; he would have to play smart now. He pulled back his red-and-white cap, and called out his Swellow, and he commanded it to use an Aerial Ace attack, but it was evaded.  
  
After a few minutes of continuous Wing Attacks by Swellow, it finally hit the elusive Tropius with a Sky Attack that hit dead on. Ash let out a sigh of relief.  
  
Kari sent out a Tyranitar. Ash's Swellow went down quickly after it received two Metal Claws, although Swellow did manage to hit Tyranitar pretty hard with a powerful Drill Peck.  
  
Ash chose Lairon to battle the Tyranitar. Lairon used a Horn Drill, but missed. Tyranitar seized this opportunity to use a Mega Punch.  
  
Lairon used a Take Down, which weakened Tyranitar seriously. But Tyranitar defeated the Lairon with a Seismic Toss, sending it flying into the stands.  
  
As Ash returned his Lairon, he could swear he saw two people bearing a striking resemblance to Jessie and James. He even heard swearing that sounded like it came from a Meowth.  
  
But he didn't give them much thought; he was down to his last Pokemon, and his opponent still had four Pokemon left.  
  
He looked at Pikachu with pleading eyes, and Pikachu understood what he meant. He scampered out onto the field, and sped up with Agility. There was no way Tyranitar could chase the quick rat Pokemon around.  
  
It kept using attacks like Rock Slide and Bite, but it kept on missing. Finally, it charged up for a Hyper Beam. But when it released the immense amount of energy, Pikachu was already behind Tyranitar and charging fast.  
  
Before Tyranitar even realized that the Hyper Beam had been 180 degrees off its target, Pikachu jumped high, using Tyranitar's heavy tail as support.  
  
While the bigger Pokemon was recharging from the attack, Pikachu let out a powerful Thunder attack, paralyzing and weakening Tyranitar. As it was falling down, Pikachu used Iron Tail, which knocked out the Tyranitar. Pikachu landed daintily on the field.  
  
Kari looked slightly shocked. She called out her Dugtrio, to try to win with the type advantage. Dugtrio immediately dug into the ground.  
  
Pikachu stayed still on the ground with its tail resting on the stadium floor, almost as if it was being used as a sensor. Abruptly, Pikachu darted away with a Quick Attack, and three identical heads sprouted out of the ground where Pikachu had been not even a second ago. Dugtrio looked bewildered that its attack had missed.  
  
Pikachu grabbed the chance and hit the Pokemon with a quick Slam followed by a Skull Bash. Dugtrio dug back into the ground, and Pikachu followed it this time.  
  
Soon, a yellow bolt of lightning extended upwards from the hole, and Pikachu climbed out of the whole with a "V" sign and a smile on its face.  
  
Dugtrio had fainted, but how? According to the rule of the types, electricity was not supposed to be able to damage ground-type Pokemon at all. Somehow, Pikachu had done it.  
  
Kari sent out her Salamence as her fifth Pokemon. It looked ready to spring from its position on command, a sign that it had been trained very well.  
  
Pikachu used Agility to try to match the great speed of its opponent. However, Salamence sent its opponent flying backwards by using a Headbutt when Pikachu was trying to gain speed and wasn't looking at its opponent. Salamence sent out a Dragonbreath, paralyzing Pikachu momentarily. Pikachu fought off the paralysis and countered with a Spark attack, which paralyzed Salamence as well.  
  
Both Pokemon were unable to move, but Pikachu was faster in getting over its status ailment. Pikachu used Take Down, sending Salamence flying into its trainer.  
  
Kari dodged just in time, but Salamence kept on flying until it hit a wall. Salamence was down and out! To the complete surprise of Ash, Kari started smiling. She looked like she was thoroughly enjoying the battle. She must have thought of the Pikachu as a worthy foe, and she acknowledged the greatness of Ash now.  
  
She threw her last Pokeball, which opened up and revealed a gigantic, 40- foot long Steelix. There was no way Pikachu could hurt this Pokemon with electric attacks, because it had used too much electricity earlier.  
  
Pikachu used supportive attacks like Double Team and Agility, while Steelix tried to crush the little Pokemon with repeated Slam attacks with its tail.  
  
When Steelix was frustrated after failing to hit Pikachu, it used a Crunch attack that hurt Pikachu really badly. Pikachu just lay there for a few moments, and then got back up.  
  
It was bruised up and hurt badly, but still standing while breathing heavily. With the last of its energy, it rushed toward the Steelix at a demonic speed, hitting it with a powerful Take Down. Steelix was hit hard, while Pikachu was thrown back from the impact.  
  
Both Pokemon were out cold for several minutes, and it looked as if the match had ended in a draw. The crowd was totally hushed, trying to see which Pokemon would get up first.  
  
Just when the official was about to declare a rematch to be scheduled sometime else, there was a heavy creaking noise that drew the attention of every head in the stadium.  
  
Kari's Steelix managed to rear its head up, let out a loud roar of jubilant victory, then collapse again, this time for good. Kari returned it with a red flash of her Pokeball.  
  
***********************  
  
After Kari was declared the winner, Ash ran to where Pikachu was in a hurry. Pikachu was hurt badly, but still conscious.  
  
Pikachu let out a soft "chu~." Ash hugged Pikachu and said, "Thank you, Pikachu."  
  
To the complete surprise of Ash and Pikachu, everyone in the stadium gave a standing ovation to the duo, applauding Pikachu's performance on taking on four Pokemon and defeating three of them. Even Ash's opponent clapped for him.  
  
Although Ash did not win the Hoenn Cup, he could not be any happier than he was now. He was crying tears, but not because he lost the finals; he was exhilarated with joy. He even felt honored that he went down in an august defeat against a trainer such skilled as Kari.  
  
After the clapping died down, Kari walked to where Ash was. She didn't say anything, but gave a look of congratulations and praise to Ash and Pikachu. She gave a playful wink at him, then disappeared through the gate.  
  
Ash just stayed in the middle of the field, and celebrated with May and Brock for a long time, long after everyone in the audience had exited the stadium.  
  
***********************  
  
That night, the awarding ceremony of the Hoenn Cup was held. Although Ash was not standing on top of the "1" at the award podium, he remembered Pikachu's performance and was content with being on top of the "2."  
  
He was awarded the silver trophy, but he treated it with more respect than the gold trophy that he had won at the Orange League.  
  
As the ceremony concluded and the audience clapped loudly for the entire world to hear, tears started flowing down Ash's cheeks again, and he lowered his cap so no one could see his eyes.  
  
***********************  
  
A few months later, after his fifteenth birthday, he visited Cerulean City. His ostentatious excuse for making this trip was just to deliver some important items to the Cerulean City Pokemon Center, but his real excuse was so that he could see Misty, who was now the leader of the Cerulean City gym after her sisters went on a trip around the world.  
  
Thoughts of Misty had loomed in his mind during the past few months, after the Hoenn Cup. When he was celebrating his performance, he was very happy and excited, and didn't give a care for anything in the world. But after the excitement died down, he reflected on past events, and realized that there was an empty void during his jubilations.  
  
He knew that it was because Misty wasn't with him, like she was during the Indigo, Orange, and Johto Cups.  
  
She had been growing on him ever since he met her on the way to Viridian City, and Ash knew that he had harbored feelings of love for her, even when she was with him.  
  
Yes, they had started off their relationship by having numerous arguments that seemed petty and pointless. But it was how they began to start to like each other. There were a few situations when one of them showed affection toward the other as they journeyed together.  
  
However, he was too shy to go up to her and tell her that he loved her, in fear of rejection, before she left the group. He was hoping that Misty felt the same way, and that she would break the ice first.  
  
But she never did, and he didn't either. Maybe she did feel the same way, but he did not know for sure. He was always afraid to ask.  
  
Well, no more. He just wanted to tell Misty his true feelings for her, whether she liked him or not. In letting her know that he loved her, he would be removing a great burden from his mind, a burden that had been troubling him for months like heartburn. In fact, he felt as if his heart was burning whenever he thought of her.  
  
He felt he had to tell her; he just had to tell.  
  
***********************  
  
But when he reached Cerulean City, he saw that the gym was locked up. He learned later when he went to the Pokemon Center to run his errand that Misty had gone on a training journey to the Whirl Islands with her students. They would not be back for another month, so waiting for Misty at Cerulean City was out of the question.  
  
Ash just headed back to Pallet Town after leaving a note on the door of the gym, saying that he would visit in about a month. He drew a cute little heart on the bottom of the note, hoping Misty would feel the same way.  
  
After he returned home, he kept practicing what he would say when he met Misty. He kept saying them over and over again, waiting for the day when he could say them to his loved one. All month, he dreamed of Misty, and what would happen when they met.  
  
It just made him so happy to think about it. They would fall in love with each other, then get married and go on a sweet honeymoon. They would go on wild adventures and travel together, just like they did in the old days. Eventually, they would settle down and have kids, who would follow in the footsteps of their parents and become Pokemon trainers.  
  
It was like the perfect life, being with his soul mate for the rest of his life. He was determined to make the next visit a memorable one, and confess his love to Misty.  
  
He kept waiting for a month to pass very patiently, although his mind was continuously gnawing at him to go now and check if Misty was back at her gym.  
  
It was about three days before the day when he would have gone and visited Misty when...  
  
The fire broke out and destroyed Pallet Town.  
  
***********************  
  
Sorry I'm so slow to update. This is the second part of the 3-chapter prologue section. And yes, this story will be somewhat angsty.  
  
As always, please R&R after reading!  
  
-Latias In Space- 


	3. Determination: Prologue, Part 3

The Pokemon Chronicles  
  
Fanfiction by Sung-Min Kwon. © 2003  
  
Disclaimer: Pokemon and its associated characters are copyrighted by Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures Inc, and 4Kids Productions.  
  
***********************  
  
-Determination-  
  
Ash's train of thoughts about past events skidded to a stop when it came to the memory of Pallet Town being burned down to the ground.  
  
His emotions, which had been running high while he was recalling happy memories, took a steep dip downwards. He was back to his depressed state, and for a while, he felt as if he would break down again and cry, beating his breast in sorrow.  
  
But he didn't.  
  
As a matter of fact, the sorrow and self-pity in him was slowly being replaced by a curiosity. A curiosity of the causes of his present sorry state.  
  
Questions emerged, and remained unanswered as he tried to find solutions.  
  
He pondered, "How was Pallet totally burned down to the ground?" Pallet Town had a couple of fire stations; it never took the firemen more than 2 minutes to get to any part of the small community. If a fire broke out, it would have been extinguished in a matter of minutes; Pallet was renowned throughout the world for the quality and efficiency of its fire control. A fire had never damaged more than one house in Pallet Town for over a hundred years now, and very few fires had broken out at all.  
  
It just didn't make sense, how everything in his hometown could be destroyed like that. Something evil was at hand. It must have been done intentionally, and on a large-scale basis, making it impossible for the fire department to contain all the flames.  
  
And another thing: "Why did someone try to kill me?" Up till now, he did not make serious enemies with anyone at all, not even Jessie, James, and Meowth. They were more like clowns who mainly fulfilled the purpose of bringing a little spice and fun to everyone's lives, although that was getting boring by now as well.  
  
He had tried to stay friendly with everyone that he met, unless someone was really bad of character and honestly deserved a hard smack in the face. And fortunately, he didn't meet a lot of those kinds of goons these days.  
  
So if someone had tried to kill him, it probably must have been an organization that worked for the good of evil. Team Rocket? Team Aqua? Team Magma? A combination of two? All three? Or was it something else that tried to take his life?  
  
But he was pretty sure that the assassination attempt and the conflagration were somehow related to each other.  
  
He now sorely wished that he had taken a closer look at his assassin after he killed her; maybe he would have gotten some clues.  
  
But all that was left of his assassin was now the ashes that he was standing on. She, like everything else, was turned to ashes.  
  
In addition, he wondered where his Pokemon were and just what had happened to them. They were killed in the fire, most likely. Every one of them, even Pikachu; they were all in Professor Oak's Pokemon Laboratory, which was burned down.  
  
So now, he had nothing. No family, no Pokemon, no home. He was left with nothing! Even if he was with Misty, life would still be very much empty.  
  
How would his life be without his best friend, Pikachu? Or without his mother, who still made playful nags about the benefits of having clean underwear and still cared deeply for him? Or without the wise guidance of Professor Oak, who had helped him up until now, and was still paving the way for Ash to become the ultimate Pokemon master that he so wanted to be?  
  
***********************  
  
His curiosity eventually converted back to sadness and despair, and tears were slowly flowing from his eyes again. He even drew his dagger out from his bedsheet belt.  
  
The dried blood on the dagger and bedsheet had now turned into a shade of brown with a tinge of dark red in it. He could actually see these things because the sun had come out from behind the thick, black clouds while Ash was recalling his memories.  
  
It was ironic how it had been so cloudy and dark when he was feeling hopeful in the morning, that it would have been just a nightmare, and he would find his house again.  
  
And now, when he was feeling even worse then being dead, the sun was out, and shining brightly.  
  
It was almost as if the sun was mocking him, being cruel to him like everyone and everything else.  
  
He couldn't bear the suffering, he just couldn't! Wanting to end the suffering, he raised his arm and was about to drive the dagger straight into his neck, hoping that he could die painlessly.  
  
But he stopped in mid-swing; just before the blade started descending, he could see something running toward him reflected on the dagger. He turned around.  
  
Something was running toward him, all right, and it was coming fast and showing no signs of stopping. Friend or foe? Ash squinted his eyes to see if he could identify the figure.  
  
Then his brain suddenly became aware of the identity, and his body automatically assumed a defensive stance.  
  
It wasn't just one figure; it was a band of assassins, each one of them looking exactly like the one that he had killed yesterday. He could not hear the four people approaching as the plain of ash effectively silenced footsteps, but saw them coming armed with various weapons.  
  
There was no way he could run away; he could not run nearly as quickly as they could, especially with the deep wound in his side that hurt until a moment ago. It had stopped hurting when Ash recognized the danger, and his body was pumping adrenaline at maximum power. Even if he could outrun them, where could he run to? There was no place to run.  
  
He had two options now; to either stand there, do nothing, and get diced to bits by the assassins, or take them on and defeat them (or die trying).  
  
He decided wait first to reduce the distance, then attack. While he was waiting, he removed his bedsheet belt, which would hinder his speed greatly, and threw it on the ground.  
  
When they were about forty feet away from him and still coming toward him, he lowered his head like a Pokemon would do when using Skull Bash, then made a blind charge at his attackers, yelling at the top of his voice. "Aargh!!!" He hoped that his charge would throw off their concentration a bit.  
  
Before taking off, Ash concealed his dagger in his bedsheet belt, hoping to use it as an element of surprise.  
  
The assassins and the boy came toward each other like opposite sides of two magnets. When they were less than fifteen feet apart, Ash drew his dagger and held it up high.  
  
Just then, something good happened that he didn't expect; the angle of the dagger was just right with the rays of the sun so that all four assassins were suddenly hit in the face with an extremely strong flash of light.  
  
They all suddenly stopped, furiously blinking their eyes.  
  
Ash saw this as a chance from the heavens, and used it to his advantage. He kicked a long sword out of the hands of the assassin closest to him, who was still trying to get the flash out of his eyes.  
  
The assassin wore a look of shock, and then panic as his weapon was flung out of his hands. Ash raised his other foot high up, then sailed it downward, right onto the head of the unfortunate assassin.  
  
The first assassin crumpled right onto the desert of ash, with blood slowly seeping out from his short-cut blond hair.  
  
By now, the other three assassins had regained their ability to see, and was shocked to see their leader defeated (he did appear to be the leader, since he wore a different-colored uniform from the other three assassins).  
  
The remaining assassins made a charge at him simultaneously, their weapons raised. They were all girls who appeared to be around twenty years of age.  
  
The one on the left carried a long metal rod taller than herself, the one in the middle carried two daggers, and the one of the right carried a heavy club.  
  
Ash didn't have time to think what to do; he just let his instincts take over, and hoped for the best.  
  
***********************  
  
Ash first grabbed the long sword that had fallen out of the hands of the first assassin. Then, he made an unbelievable jump straight forward, toward the girl in the center with his sword held in front of him. When she saw him soaring through the air, made a rapid series of swings with her dagger, although they were all parried by the much longer blades of the sword.  
  
As Ash was at the top of his trajectory, he saw the metal rod being swung at his left leg. Moving his left leg a little higher, Ash pushed off the metal rod that was moving toward his body with the bottom of his left foot to propel him in the right direction.  
  
Now, he was sailing in the air, right above the heads of the girls who carried the daggers and the club, the ones in the center and the right, respectively.  
  
Ash descended, with the heels of his feet aimed at the heads of both girls. They were too shocked to move after seeing how he had suddenly changed direction in mid-air, and done that so quickly.  
  
Ash's left heel connected with the head of the dagger-carrying girl, while his right heel missed and came down on the right shoulder of the club- wielding girl.  
  
The girl with the dagger crumpled down into the sand face first after a sickening crunch.  
  
The girl on the right cried out in pain after her shoulder was smashed and literally shattered by the powerful force of Ash's heel.  
  
She immediately dropped her club, and whimpered, clutching her right shoulder. She tried to make a rush to pick up her club with her left hand, but Ash said, "Oh, no, you don't!"  
  
He kicked the club away before the girl could retrieve her weapon, and then delivered another kick that connected with the lower jaw of the girl. She, too, fell face first into the ash.  
  
The girl with the metal rod saw that she was alone standing. Even though she panicked, she kept on fighting.  
  
She executed a series of fancy moves that included swings, turns, jabs, and stabs while rushing toward Ash. She even knocked his sword out of his hands, surprising him.  
  
Ash made a feint of kicking her with his left foot, but changed feet before landing again, and kicked her hard in the side with his right. But it hurt a lot; she had thought that the kick would come from Ash's left foot, and swung her weapon at that foot.  
  
Ash felt as if his left foot had been crushed by a steam roller, and stood like a flamingo on his right leg momentarily.  
  
Hoping that he broke a few of her ribs with the last kick, he jumped forward and grabbed her metal rod with his hands. Then, hooking his right leg over the rod and pulling his body over it so he was sitting on the rod, he delivered a powerful kick at her chin.  
  
She had no time to defend herself, because Ash had done all of the previous actions in a period of time not even half a second.  
  
Her head swayed a bit, and then her whole body fell backward with a small "thud." Just to make sure she didn't get back up and ambush him, he made sure that he had kicked her ankles hard enough.  
  
Just when he thought he was done, and caught his breath, he received a surprise attack. His back had been slashed, although not very deep. Ash turned around, and saw the man who appeared to be the leader back up, armed with a dagger. Blood was flowing on the left side of his face, but his expression was one of extreme fury.  
  
Ignoring the immense pain in his left foot and the blood flowing out of the long scar in his back, Ash made a rush at him.  
  
The man was unprepared for this sudden attack, and Ash punched his chest with both fists. With a loud, shattering noise, several ribs of the man cracked, and the leader of the assassins suddenly collapsed on his knees.  
  
A wheezing sound suggested that he had trouble breathing. The broken ribs probably punctured both of his lungs, even maybe his heart.  
  
To end the suffering of the badly hurt man, Ash picked up the club, which was lying nearby.  
  
After raising it high above his head, he smashed it down upon the man's head with all his might.  
  
Crunch.  
  
The man's fell sideways, the side of his head hitting the ground first. There was a big flow of blood, even more than those really gruesome movies full of violence and gore.  
  
***********************  
  
Ash calmed down as the adrenaline began to wear off. His mind was now very clear, and the pain was beginning to return to his wound in his side. He ignored his hurting foot and his back, which had stopped bleeding, but hurt a great deal nonetheless.  
  
Suppressing a hunger pang, Ash took a good look at his surroundings. Four bodies were lying around him, all mutilated in some way, and all of them most likely dead.  
  
But strangely, he felt justified for his actions. In fact, a wrath began to shape in him.  
  
Why had he been so close to being killed several times in the last two days? It wasn't as if he did anything wrong.  
  
If there was one thing that Ash Ketchum could not stand, it was being given treatment like this when he did nothing to deserve it. He cried a few tears of indignation.  
  
He was going to find out who had destroyed Pallet Town, and certainly take revenge. Yes, that was what he was going to do. Even if it meant taking his life, so be it.  
  
He had to stop the criminals from committing any more enormities like this, and wanted to bring the ones responsible to justice.  
  
He took a deep sigh, and seemed to be feeling self-pity for a moment. A 15- year old boy should not have to do this!...  
  
But he made up his mind, and was determined to live up to his intentions.  
  
First, he took a walk through the desert of ash, trying to think what he could do, and where he could start.  
  
He was deep in thought when something gleaming caught his eye. There was a shiny object partially buried in the ashes that had apparently survived the fire.  
  
He ran toward the source of the gleam, and stopped where Professor Oak's lab used to be. He suddenly saw open Pokeballs in that vicinity, reflecting the orange light from the setting sun.  
  
His heart took a great leap. Maybe his Pokemon weren't dead; maybe they were just robbed by the organization that burned down Pallet Town. A case that was also likely with Professor Oak, who might not have been killed due to his knowledge on Pokemon.  
  
Maybe there was a way he could get them back. For the first time in what felt like days, he was actually happy and hopeful.  
  
However, he knew he had no time to lose. The sooner he found them, the better. He took a quick dip in the waters of the river that flowed by Pallet Town, to wash off the dried blood from his clothes and body. He also cleaned the dagger of dried blood.  
  
Picking up the bedsheet that he had removed from around his waist before his encounter with the band of assassins, he sent it floating down the river. He hoped that someone would find it and possibly get a hint at what just happened at Pallet Town.  
  
He watched it go until it disappeared over the waterfall.  
  
Then, he threw a hated gaze at the dagger. He threw it as far as he could, and it landed somewhere on the other side of the river.  
  
***********************  
  
After that, he turned around and began to head northward. As he was walking, he planned to north first, toward Viridian City, and see what happened there. For now, he would leave his hometown... or what was left of it, anyway.  
  
He would come back here, someday, and rebuild his hometown with his own hands. Hopefully, he could marry Misty, and raise the first family in the newly built Pallet Town. He felt much better already, just thinking optimistic things.  
  
The forest north of Pallet Town was almost entirely burned down, but there was a small patch of forest that was mysteriously left unharmed on the very northern edges of the original forest.  
  
Ash walked into the dense woods, until he was out of sight from anyone who would have been looking northward from Pallet Town.  
  
********************  
  
Yay! This marks the end of the long prologue! Now we can get into the real story. Thanks for being patient!  
  
Please R&R after reading! You can even make suggestions about how you think the story should go, since I haven't entirely decided on it yet. If it sounds good, your opinions could be reflected in this story! So please, R&R!  
  
-Latias In Space- 


	4. Apparition: Chapter 1, Part 1

The Pokemon Chronicles  
  
Fanfiction by Sung-Min Kwon. © 2003  
  
Disclaimer: Pokemon and its associated characters are copyrighted by Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures Inc, and 4Kids Productions.  
  
***********************  
  
-Apparition-  
  
A boy was running for his life. He was out in the open fields, and it looked as if he had come from the direction of the burning remains of what used to be a bustling city. The city, in the background, was on fire, and the red glow of the flames lit up the night sky like that of an orange evening during the setting sun.  
  
***********************  
  
If anyone had been alive and unharmed in the city, he would have been able to see the destruction of his home. Streets were deserted and devoid of life, unless you considered the dying and the dead corpses littered sporadically as life. These corpses were also starting to burn, giving them a natural cremation. Almost every building was on fire, and some had already stopped burning and turned black.  
  
The houses that people used to live in were barely standing, if at all. They had been mercilessly pummeled and beaten by mysterious attackers who had destroyed and moved out of this city. Many a house did not have doors, and ones that did just had them hanging by a hinge or two.  
  
If one would have been brave enough to venture inside one of these houses, he would have been greeted with corpses of innocent residents who had not done anything deserving to be killed. Of course, this could also have been seen from the air, seeing that most roofs had collapsed into the house and left a wide hole. Cars in driveways were charred to a crisp solid piece, and some looked as if it had been flattened in a junkyard.  
  
Everything on display in a nearby museum was taken away, although some exhibits were damaged and destroyed.  
  
One could see that the security guards had not been able to stop the thieves, for they were lying lifeless near the front door.  
  
The curator had long since escaped, knowing that he could meet the same fate, too.  
  
And the museum was beginning to catch fire. It would spread quickly, since the museum was mainly made of wood, and rain had not visited the city in nearly a month.  
  
The fire was well timed, because a drought was occurring in the city when it happened.  
  
With a drought of this severity, the fire station could do nothing but evacuate when the disaster struck.  
  
It was kind of ironic, because the fire station itself was on fire in the distance. The firemen had all escaped when they saw the first signs of fire.  
  
But were they to blame? What could they do?  
  
When the fire broke out, the city was currently under a law that prevented residents from flushing their toilets, and they were not allowed to take more than one shower a week.  
  
There was little water in the fire station, and it would not even last a minute against the conflagration.  
  
Only those stupid enough to believe in a heroic death would remain at the station.  
  
The Pokemon Center was also empty, although it was not on fire yet. The automatic glass doors that once friendly slid open for every aspiring Pokemon trainer now posed a threat to anyone who would enter it. It was shattered and sharp-edged, and glass bits were still falling everywhere, making it look as if the front door of the building was covered with powdery snow.  
  
Half of the roof was no more; a bomb or missile had blown it to dust. Every Pokeball had been stashed away, every Chansey killed or captured.  
  
Computers and other machines short-circuited and caught fire cinders that were flying in the air. It looked as if this section of town would also be up in flames in a matter of minutes.  
  
The PokeMart? One could take some fragmented pieces of a blue sign lying by the place and jigsaw it together to make out the M-A-R-T.  
  
That broken sign was probably the most undamaged object around this area. The building itself was reduced down to partially standing walls with uneven heights.  
  
All of the items that had lined the shelves of the PokeMart had either been blown up or ransacked.  
  
Dead bodies of shopkeepers and customers were either scattered on the linoleum floor or hung on the half-standing walls.  
  
***********************  
  
A man in a black cloak was standing at a crossroad. He lifted his hood, and narrowed his eyes, as if he were deep in thought.  
  
He remarked in a soft whisper, "Trouble. Oh, bother."  
  
He paused for a moment, and then made an impossibly speedy dash.  
  
***********************  
  
Everything was red with blood. Everything was red with fire. Everything was on fire.  
  
By daybreak, the fire would extinguish itself, revealing a plain of ashes. Eventually, the world would forget this city.  
  
No one would be able to recognize this place as Pewter City.  
  
***********************  
  
The boy was being pursued by a man on a Ponyta, even though there still was a good hundred yards between them. The rider and his steed were both clad in pitch-black armor that shone with a deep orange hue coming from the burning city.  
  
The rider gripped the reins of his Ponyta in one hand, and in the other, he carried a long sword with a blood-stained tip. Although no one could see his visage under his dark helm, there was no doubt that the rider was planning to kill another victim.  
  
The boy could hear the hoofs of the horse striking the ground behind him and knew that the rider was gaining on him. He was panting for a breath, even making unnatural wheezing noises.  
  
However, he didn't stop because of fear of being killed. He was making sobbing noises that were cut short with every stride that he took. But he suddenly stopped.  
  
His feet were four feet away from the edge of a cliff. Knowing that he had taken a wrong path, he turned to hurry back to the last junction and go the other way. Just then, he saw the rider turn his way at the junction and rush toward him.  
  
The cliff used to be situated over the river, but all the water had dried up because of the lack of rain. Now, all there was left in the riverbed were big rocks. Big rocks, as big as a cement truck.  
  
He couldn't jump off. He knew that. But he couldn't just stand here until he was sliced and diced by this black rider.  
  
Then an idea struck him. The rider carried the sword in his right hand. What if he made a feint toward the right side of the rider, than went to the left of the rider? He could only do it if he could get around the front of the Ponyta in time. But the rider was closing in. He had no time to think.  
  
The boy trusted his senses, made the attempt and dashed. He succeeded in making the feint and getting round the steed, but the rider was much faster than the boy had expected. He gave the boy a shallow but long cut down his back. The boy screamed and fell on his knees.  
  
Blood wasn't spurting out of the wound, so the sword had not hit an artery. But blood was slowly flowing, and any movement brought extreme pain with it.  
  
The rider had gone about ten yards past the place where it had hurt the boy. He stopped his steed and dismounted. He made a funereal march toward the place where the boy lay, sprawled on his back.  
  
The boy saw the rider advancing, and his eyes widened into almost perfect circles. He put his hands up in front of him, as if his hands could shield him from almost certain death. He tried to roll away, but stopped because of the pain.  
  
The rider kept walking, and stopped in front of the boy, who tried to move, but couldn't. The sword was raised, ready to come down and behead its victim.  
  
The boy's mouth opened to release a loud "NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Except that nothing came out of it. The boy's vocal cords were paralyzed with fear.  
  
It wouldn't matter. The rider would not move an inch after hearing it anyway. He pulled the sword back another two inches, to provide some momentum that would drive the sword quickly into the boy and give him a painless death.  
  
After all, the rider would have thought, a quick death would be much more humane than a slow, tortuous death.  
  
***********************  
  
A thunderous cry rang throughout the area and shook everything in a radius of several miles.  
  
But it wasn't from the boy.  
  
***********************  
  
The boy, surprised that he was still alive, looked at what had happened to the rider. The rider was lying on his back, with his own sword positioned through the back of his neck. His armor wasn't as strong as it looked, apparently. He wasn't breathing, and had no pulse.  
  
The boy removed the helmet to see just who the killer was. It was no one he knew. His nose was a bit crooked, and he had a closely trimmed mustache. His hair was light auburn, and it was unkempt, pointing in every direction.  
  
His eyes and face wore an expression of supreme shock, as if the rider had not expected to die this way.  
  
But it didn't make sense. How did the rider die? Just a few moments ago, the rider was standing over him with the sword, ready to strike.  
  
As he looked around, he saw a black-cloaked man walk around the corner. The boy ran after him, shouting, "Wait!"  
  
The man did not turn around and kept on walking. The boy lost sight of him for a few moments while he was running to catch up, than turned the corner himself. To his surprise, the man wasn't there now! Where had he gone off?  
  
He searched the vicinity for a few minutes, but didn't see any signs of the man.  
  
The boy, a bit confused, but relieved that he was still alive, went the other way when he reached the junction.  
  
***********************  
  
The black-cloaked man was back. He was standing in front of the body of the rider. He took a look at the rider's face for some time, and then tossed the corpse over the edge of the cliff, armor and all.  
  
As he watched the corpse make a mushroom-shaped cloud of dust upon collision, the cloaked man remarked "Todd, you idiot..."  
  
Letting out a bitter chuckle, he turned back, towards the way he had come.  
  
***********************  
  
Hmm... a severe case of the writer's block prevented me from writing a new chapter for six weeks. Sorry for those of you who were enjoying the prologue! And Koriku, thank you for continuously giving helpful reviews on every chapter! ^^ As usual, R & R, please...  
  
-Latias in Space- 


	5. Recognition: Chapter 1, Part 2

The Pokemon Chronicles  
  
Fanfiction by Sung-Min Kwon. © 2003  
  
Disclaimer: Pokemon and its associated characters are copyrighted by Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures Inc, and 4Kids Productions.  
  
***********************  
  
-Recognition-  
  
The black-cloaked man was walking in what used to be Viridian Forest. Now, it was more of a natural cemetery for Pokemon that were killed for no reason. Everywhere, dead or burned bug Pokemon lined the roads and the grass.  
  
Not that there was much grass left. This "forest" now had less than a hundred trees standing, most of which were dead. It looked as if a band of soldiers with flamethrowers had given this place a thorough decimation, determined to wipe out all traces of life.  
  
But he knew that they could not destroy everything; life was a stubborn thing, determined to stay alive to the end. Especially Pokemon. Pokemon were known to have remarkable recovery powers, and they couldn't die very easily.  
  
The small amount of life survived here would grow quickly and flourish again into a shadow of its former glory, the Viridian Forest of old. However, it would just be destroyed again after some time, leaving a few survivors to propagate and flourish again.  
  
Then they would be decimated again. Then they would flourish again. Then they would be decimated again. It was a sad cycle, a vicious one that could not be broken.  
  
***********************  
  
The man suddenly stopped in his tracks. He sensed something, like how a radar senses something close by and yet can't make it out.  
  
He said to himself, "Someone familiar... but friend or foe?" With his body ready to spring from response to the slightest movement, he slowly looked about his surroundings. He couldn't see anything that moved, but he could still feel it. And it was coming closer. Fight or flight? His muscles tensed, and the hairs on the back of his neck bristled up.  
  
But the feeling was getting faint again... it was getting farther away. He let out a sigh of relief, knowing that something very dangerous could pop up frequently in times like these.  
  
He continued on his way again, towards a clearing in the remains of Viridian Forest.  
  
***********************  
  
An island in the middle of a small archipelago.  
  
A palace on a tall hill in the middle of the island, overlooking the sea.  
  
A big, drafty chamber in the middle of the palace.  
  
***********************  
  
The man stopped by a stream that was miraculously still flowing through the center of the clearing. The water didn't look too clean, but it looked drinkable. He cupped his hands and took a drink of water.  
  
Ah. Cleanest and best water he'd had in days. Water was so scarce now, with the impending drought that plagued the land. Most water was too muddy to drink, and actually, muddy water would have to do for drinking in some cases.  
  
The man took some more drinks, hoping that this water didn't have anything that would make him violently ill. He heard stories that water that was too sparkly and clear actually had a dangerous virus that could kill with ease.  
  
Now if he could only find something to eat... He was pretty hungry as of now, even though he seldom had opportunities to a hearty meal anyway.  
  
He thought about making a meal out of a nearby Pokemon, but decided against it when he saw a flock of Spearow alighting on the bare branches of a nearby tree.  
  
Not that they would be dangerous or anything, but they would put up a fight. Just too bothersome to deal with that, and these Spearow didn't have nearly as much meat as a Pidgey of the same size did. Pidgey were much easier to catch, anyway. He decided to wait until his hunger pang died down.  
  
***********************  
  
A corner of the big chamber full of machines and TV screens.  
  
A mysterious man in an armchair, looking at the TV screens.  
  
A sinister cackle that would make bones rattle.  
  
***********************  
  
Going a bit west from the clearing took him to the ruins of a large, stone temple. It had not been burned during the recent fires, but had been destroyed many, many years ago. Even before he had been born.  
  
The ceiling had once been supported by many thick columns. But now, the columns lay snapped in many pieces, and the ceiling, a huge slab of marble, broke into a hundred pieces of various sizes.  
  
The temple was totally empty, save a few bird Pokemon that were nesting on the one column that remained standing.  
  
Spearow again. Spearow eggs were OK to eat, but the mother would fight like a pest to protect her eggs. Again, too bothersome to deal with just for a few eggs.  
  
The man turned back, going back to the clearing to go his way again. There might be something to eat further down the road.  
  
He trudged on, hoping that his extreme hunger pang would die away soon.  
  
***********************  
  
A maniacal laugh that rings throughout the whole palace.  
  
A palace on a tall hill in the middle of an island, overlooking the sea. Laughter still loud and clear.  
  
An island in the middle of a small archipelago. Laughter still audible.  
  
***********************  
  
The cloaked man was heading south, towards Viridian City.  
  
Or what was left of it.  
  
It had been about a fortnight since Viridian City met the same fate as Pewter did last night. Only that it took the armored riders several days to track down all of the survivors and kill every one of them. The riders did not want anyone to escape the catastrophe and warn residents of other cities. That would create a mass evacuation.  
  
The riders didn't just want to destroy cities, but they wanted to kill, just for the heck of it. They wanted screams of terror and pain. They wanted chases that would always lead to the death of their victims. They wanted to see blood, to let their long swords cut down the bodies of the powerless citizens.  
  
The riders were cruel monsters, human on the outside but demons at heart. They were monsters surrounded by almost impenetrable armor and riding on flighty Ponyta and Rapidash.  
  
The Pokemon weren't bad. Pokemon weren't evil by nature. It was the humans that control the Pokemon who were evil.  
  
The cloaked man had witnessed the events at Viridian City, but he did not expect the riders to continue on to Pewter City. He had been tied up in helping survivors stay alive, and in injuring or killing the riders.  
  
The man just hoped that the invasion on Cerulean would be delayed for a while at Mount Moon. Mount Moon was a very dangerous place now, filled with insanely strong Crobats and Golem instead of the low-level Zubat and Geodude. And they were hungry. Hungry enough to even attack and devour Pokemon of their own kind.  
  
Not many people had gotten through Mount Moon alive recently. No one knew just when the Pokemon at Mount Moon underwent that terrifying change, but no one wanted to go there and investigate.  
  
Maybe the riders and the strong Pokemon would knock each other out, weakening one force or the other, if the riders really did decide to pass through the cursed cave. Either one was life-threatening. Or the riders could take the way around Mount Moon, although that would take a long time as well. Either way, the riders weren't going to go to Cerulean City anytime soon.  
  
The man was asking himself, "What is their purpose? Why are they killing everyone they see? It's not as if they would get anything from killing those people..." His train of thought suddenly skidded to a stop, as he got that feeling again.  
  
It was much stronger now, and he could tell that it was no ordinary thing. It was something of great power, one that would have great chances of defeating him if it did happen to be a foe.  
  
He took his position, and waited...  
  
***********************  
  
Suddenly, the man saw something that he thought he would never see. It darted out like a bullet from behind the burnt stump of a tree.  
  
A Pikachu.  
  
Was it the one? The man browsed through his memories. Yes, it was. However, the Pikachu apparently couldn't recognize the man, since it was on all fours, prepared to spring. It wore a fierce expression on its face, and let out a low yet menacing growl. Its ears were down, and its tail sticking up almost vertically.  
  
It somewhat resembled a Growlithe guarding something with its life, except if looks could kill, this Pikachu's could.  
  
But it was the same Pikachu. It just had to be. Most Pikachu were weak, and many were killed in the recent light of events. Only in colonies in isolated lands did Pikachu survive in large numbers.  
  
And this one looked very powerful. Just too powerful to be a wild Pokemon. He would have to take the chance.  
  
The man hesitated, then asked in broken words, "Pi... kachu?"  
  
The Pikachu suddenly stopped growling backed down. It got on its feet, put on a dumbfounded expression, and its mouth turned into a small O. It asked in an uncertain voice, "Pikapi?"  
  
The man smiled and burst out enthusiastically, "Yes, it's me! It's me, Ash!"  
  
The Pikachu's blank expression slowly transformed into a big smile that matched the one on Ash's face, then the Pikachu launched itself into its trainer's arms as it squealed, "Pika!"  
  
It buried its face into Ash's chest, and gave him a slight jolt for old times' sake. It was surprisingly effective on Ash, who had not been shocked in a long time.  
  
For the first time in years, Ash felt overjoyed. He had found his old friend whom he had lost for what seemed like forever. He had been just searching for a sign, of anyone that he knew, since then.  
  
Searching... searching... Found.  
  
Pikachu was exactly like how he was before they were separated. The same smile, the same black eyes, the same red cheeks, the same pointy ears... This reminded him of when he first met Pikachu and saved him from the pack of Spearow. He recalled the Hoenn Cup once more, where Pikachu had given his best shot for Ash.  
  
Things were starting to look up for him; this could be a very good omen. His eyes were welling up with tears, and Ash did not try to hold them back.  
  
***********************  
  
That night, Pikachu and Ash talked around a fire that they had gathered from twigs that had survived the fire.  
  
What does not kill you makes you stronger. This old saying came to Ash's mind, since twigs that had survived the fire had dried up almost completely and served as excellent fuel for burning.  
  
As the fire was slowly starting to die down, Ash told Pikachu of what had happened to him on that day, starting from how he had saved the little boy from death. Just when he got to explaining about the empty temple, Pikachu stood up and became alert.  
  
Ash stopped talking and held his breath. He, too, could hear something moving. It was not too close, but it was there and coming towards Ash and Pikachu. He thought, "Darn! Must have been the fire that gave us away..."  
  
He waited for what seemed like forever. Suddenly, with a loud yell that almost scared him out of his wits, he saw a figure running towards him step into the light of the fire. No, more like soaring towards him.  
  
Judging from the yell, the figure was a woman. She was coming fast. Too fast. And what was more, Ash saw that she was armed with something, although it was impossible to make out the identity of the weapons because she was moving like a blur.  
  
As she got within a fairly close distance of Ash, he saw that it was a pair of daggers, aimed at his chest. He remembered the daggers of the assassin that had almost killed him in his bed, and panic struck him. The assassin had been a woman, just like the figure. In addition, they were both armed with daggers.  
  
Was there a chance that the assassin had been revived and planning to get revenge on him?  
  
He thought of running into the darkness, but decided against it quickly. Without light, he would be killed for sure, not being able to see the location of his attacker. So he took his position and waited for her to come close...  
  
***********************  
  
Sorry to leave you hanging there... ^^ Updates will be up pretty frequently now. Please Read & Review!  
  
-Latias in Space- 


	6. Aggression: Chapter 1, Part 3

The Pokemon Chronicles  
  
Fanfiction by Sung-Min Kwon. © 2003  
  
Disclaimer: Pokemon and its associated characters are copyrighted by Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures Inc, and 4Kids Productions.  
  
***********************  
  
-Aggression-  
  
Ash just watched as his oncoming attacker rush to where he was. He was thinking of something to do. Anything to do, actually.  
  
His head was thumping, and his legs were shaking.  
  
If it had just been someone without any arms, he could have taken anyone. But she had those daggers. Those daggers looked as if they could cut through anything, so Ash was dead meat if one of those happened to hit his body. He was totally unarmed and unprepared for this sudden attack.  
  
Ash couldn't see the face of the woman, because it was covered by the hood of a sea-blue cloak. All he could see under that hood were a pair of eyes. It looked as if she was almost floating toward him, because she moved rapidly yet silently, and her cloak came down almost to her feet, effectively shielding her legs from view.  
  
One might have thought that it was a ghost at first. Ash would have thought that as well if he hadn't heard her let out that yell.  
  
When the woman was close enough to slash his face with her daggers, Ash suddenly leapt high into the air.  
  
Pikachu understood a nod from Ash, and darted off into a nearby bush for safety.  
  
The daggers of the woman slashed the place where Ash had been there not even a second ago, and one hack managed to cut off a small part of his cloak, which now billowed in the air.  
  
It was a good thing that he dodged, because the blades of the daggers would have slashed him into ribbons.  
  
She jumped up into the air as well, her cloak following her ascent.  
  
She came at him at the daggers again while they were both airborne. Ash thought, "This is no ordinary assassin," as he successfully blocked the blades of both daggers with the bottoms of his boots.  
  
"But not enough to beat me," he remarked to himself as he jumped up from the blades and delivered a spin kick into the side of her face.  
  
She ducked just in time, and Ash spun a semicircle counterclockwise. She saw that his back was turned toward her, and delivered a kick of her own straight up, hitting Ash's hamstrings.  
  
Ow.  
  
Immediately after Ash winced, she threw one of her daggers at his arm. It missed, but barely; he could feel the wind created by the weapon whiz by his ear.  
  
But he felt no fear; he was still smarting from that bruise that she had given him, and felt angry instead.  
  
He didn't even notice when the dagger returned like a boomerang, passing through his legs like a field goal in football.  
  
As they were both descending, Ash used his good leg and delivered a football punt-style kick right in the assassin's stomach after executing a 270.  
  
That blow knocked the wind out of her, and she crumpled down on the ground.  
  
He landed immediately after she did, cushioning the impact with his hands. He then bounced off the ground with his hands, and landed daintily on his feet.  
  
***********************  
  
He slowly approached the woman, who was lying motionless on her face. He was very cautious, just in case the cloaked figure suddenly jumped up and tried to take him with the element of surprise.  
  
Just to make sure, he first tried to search for her daggers. They were a good distance away, enough that she would have to get up and roll a few yards to grasp either one of them.  
  
Before taking any action, Ash observed her daggers.  
  
They were very special ones, to be sure. The blades of the daggers looked as if they were made up of white-blue ice. Or more like dry ice, actually. White steam was rising from the blades, just like dry ice does as the solid turns into gas directly. But the blades, measuring at about eight inches long, didn't seem to be getting any smaller at all.  
  
The handles were almost as long as the blades, and they were simple and unadorned.  
  
***********************  
  
After making sure that the daggers were a safe distance away, he dashed toward her, turned her on her back, and held her down by the hands. But when he had a firm grip on her wrists, he felt a very weak pulse.  
  
Hmm. That kick that she received must have been a lot stronger than he thought it was.  
  
He pulled back the hood, which revealed a perfectly oval face of a beautiful young woman about his age. She looked incredibly like his dream girl with her almost goddess-like beauty.  
  
As he closely examined this face over and over again, he couldn't believe that a creature this beautiful could put up such a fight just moments ago.  
  
Well, like they said. You can't judge a book by its cover.  
  
***********************  
  
He knew that he shouldn't leave her like this in the middle of a forest. A young woman in this unconscious state would surely be eaten by high-level Pokemon that periodically visited this neck of the woods.  
  
Just when he was about to carry her on his back, he saw a sparkle from below her bangs. He saw a golden tiara on her forehead. This piece of jewelry was one that was most exquisite.  
  
A pure golden crown inlaid with pearls and ivory as well as many colorful priceless gems. Not even the queen of the most powerful kingdom could have a crown like this.  
  
Many a foolish ruler would trade his country for this jewel, and it was enough to tempt even the most righteous of men. Ash could not resist from taking the tiara in his hands.  
  
In his hands, this jewel suddenly felt heavy and cold. And it felt as if it was getting heavier and colder by the minute.  
  
His lust was disappearing, replaced by a slight fear of this mysterious object. When he couldn't take it anymore, Ash suddenly threw the tiara into a nearby lake, and shuddered a bit.  
  
That tiara was not just luxurious, but also had an evil air about it.  
  
Of course, greedy men would not be able to tell, and they would just see it was something of infinite value.  
  
***********************  
  
Ash tried to make a decision about what to do. Should he wait for her to regain consciousness, take her with him, or just leave her like this? He knew that she would slow him down quite a bit if he had to carry her around. But he couldn't leave her like this, either.  
  
Finally, he just shook her awake, as his impatience won over. She slowly gained consciousness, and her eyes fluttered open.  
  
As he looked into those deep blue eyes, he thought that he was seeing a pair of clear, tropical oceans. Those big eyes, that innocent expression... he still couldn't believe that it was this young woman who attacked him. Her expression changed from innocence to apprehension, then to one of curiosity.  
  
She seemed like someone recovering from amnesia as she sat up, and looked about her surroundings.  
  
The first words out of her mouth were, "Where am I?"  
  
********  
  
Ash thought, 'She's really crazy...'  
  
And he had reason to do so. She had been trying to kill him only several minutes ago. Unless that kick in her stomach somehow purged her brain of all past memories, there was no way she could be saying that.  
  
Maybe she was just trying to play dumb, and look for an opportunity to hurt him while he was off guard.  
  
For what seemed like forever, these two people looked at each other with a blank expression.  
  
***********************  
  
He cautiously asked in a deep and clear voice, "And who might you be?"  
  
She replied, "That's what I should be asking you." She, too, did not seem to be able to recognize his face.  
  
Just then, Pikachu came out of hiding, and came to look at this person. The woman's expression suddenly changed into one of elation, and she gave Pikachu a giant hug.  
  
Pikachu looked ready to shock her, but suddenly stopped. Pikachu seemed to know this woman as well.  
  
That look on Pikachu's face... only one person could elicit a response like that.  
  
***********************  
  
Misty?  
  
It couldn't be. She looked nothing like Misty. Misty, as Ash remembered, was a tomboy who looked and acted like an imp.  
  
When she traveled together with Ash and Brock, she had been the scariest of them all. She even scared guests and fellow trainers out of their wits countless times.  
  
Of course she was a good friend. Once you got to know her really well.  
  
She had a sentimental side that was just as soft as anyone else's, and Ash knew it. But she always maintained a tough exterior to hide this vulnerable self.  
  
Most of all, she was unpredictable. She could be serene one moment, then suddenly break out in a fit the next.  
  
Many girls were like that, but she was an extreme case.  
  
This woman could not be Misty. No way.  
  
***********************  
  
But curiosity was gnawing at him. It was eating him inside out. He just had to ask. He finally asked, "Would you... happen to be Misty?"  
  
***********************  
  
Ash came to where the gym in Cerulean City was. He had nothing but good memories at that gym. Meeting Misty's sisters, winning his second gym badge, even defeating the Rockets once. He wanted to take another dive at the pool and watch the Waterflower Sisters perform.  
  
He also wanted to see Misty. It had been long since he saw her. He still hadn't met her ever since they parted after the Johto journeys.  
  
Would she still remember him? Would she be glad to see him?  
  
His train of thought ran off track. Ah. The gym would be around the corner.  
  
There was no gym.  
  
Wait? No gym? That couldn't be right... it was the biggest building there was in Cerulean City. You couldn't miss it if you were blinder than a Zubat.  
  
But it was true. There was no gym. No doubt about it. There was just a big lake where the gym used to stand. Nothing but a big, shimmering lake.  
  
Oh, he panicked, all right. At first, he thought that an atom bomb had been dropped on the gym, blowing it all the way to kingdom come...  
  
But that would have woken up anyone that hadn't been killed by the bomb. He would have heard about it for sure if it had happened.  
  
An air raid? Little possibility of that. An air raid specifically on this gym would be almost improbable.  
  
What threat did this gym pose to any military force? And what military force would have the guts to attack such a renowned place?  
  
Besides that, he couldn't think of anything else that would have caused the sudden disappearance of this gym. But it had disappeared somehow.  
  
***********************  
  
He visited the Pokemon Center to get some information. Luckily, Nurse Joy was on duty late tonight.  
  
She smiled sweetly and said, "Good evening, may I help you?"  
  
He inquired, "Excuse me. Could you tell me about what happened to the Cerulean gym?"  
  
Her expression darkened a bit. "The gym? About that... You see, no one knows. One morning, we just found the gym gone, replaced by a large lake."  
  
He asked desperately, "And nothing suspicious happened during the night? No bombing or anything like that? Somebody must have seen something."  
  
She thought for a moment. "Now that I recall... The night sky was suddenly covered in total darkness, according to one eyewitness. But it subsided after a few minutes, and everything returned to normal. Of course, no one had any idea that the gym suddenly disappeared like that."  
  
"Hmm..."  
  
***********************  
  
"Ash?"  
  
His flashback was interrupted, as he heard his name being spoken by the woman. Was she indeed Misty?  
  
***********************  
  
Well, nothing much to say at the end of this chapter. But please R & R!  
  
-Latias in Space- 


End file.
